Scientists Set to Reveal Missing Link

Top Secret presentation to reveal a skeleton, the purported missing link.

"Controversially, they have concluded the fossil is not simply a lemur but from a related group of primates, which evolved into monkeys, apes and human beings."
link to article

Bloomington Gears Up for Court Battle Over Atheist Ads

The city of Bloomington, Indiana gears up for a federal lawsuit after advertisements from an atheist group were deemed to controversial for city buses.

"The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign wanted to buy space on the side of Bloomington buses for their message that "You Can Be Good Without God," 6News' Ben Morriston reported."
link to article

Pope Calls for Religious Unity

Speaking at the al-Hussein mosque in Amman, Jordan:

"However, is it not also the case that often it is the ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tension and division, and at times even violence in society?"
link to article

Dan Savage Discusses Faith on This American Life

Dan Savage, of the sex-column "Savage Love," reveals his 'dark secret' of finding reassurance in a faith that he doesn't believe in. (His portion is the last segment on the program, and it is amazing.)
link to free mp3

Eagleton Picks on the Atheists

Stanley Fish from the New York Times reviews Terry Eagleton's latest book "Reason, Faith and Revolution."

"The other source of his anger is implied but never quite made explicit. He is angry, I think, at having to expend so much mental and emotional energy refuting the shallow arguments of school-yard atheists like Hitchens and Dawkins. I know just how he feels."

link to article

Pakistan Madrasas Spreading Radical Islam

With public education in a shambles, Pakistan’s poorest families have turned to madrasas, or Islamic schools, that feed and house the children while pushing a more militant brand of Islam than was traditional [in Pakistan.]
link to article

US Troops Spreading Message of Jesus

A former Afghan prime minister has called for an inquiry after Al Jazeera broadcast footage showing Christian US soldiers appearing to be preparing to try and convert Muslims in Afghanistan.
link to article

Letter from the Grave

Lasantha Wickramatunga, Sri Lankan lawyer/journalist/publisher of the Sunday Leader was assassinated in January of 2009. He had previously been subjected to attacks from the government, and wrote a letter to be published in the event of his untimely death. An amazing read. Excerpt:

"Our commitment is to see Sri Lanka as a transparent, secular, liberal democracy. Think about those words, for they each has profound meaning. Transparent because government must be openly accountable to the people and never abuse their trust. Secular because in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society such as ours, secularism offers the only common ground by which we might all be united. Liberal because we recognize that all human beings are created different, and we need to accept others for what they are and not what we would like them to be. And democratic… well, if you need me to explain why that is important, you’d best stop buying this paper."

link to article and full letter

Emerging Trend of Mobilizing Atheists

April 26, 2009: Laurie Goodstein from the New York Times examines how South Carolina atheists are growing in numbers and support in religious South Carolina.

"They liken their strategy to that of the gay-rights movement, which lifted off when closeted members of a scorned minority decided to go public."
link to article

Scottish Police Officer Follows the Jedi Faith

April 23, 2009: Pam Fleming, of the Strathclyde Police Departement has confessed to following the "Jedi Faith."

"According to Britain's Office for National Statistics, a total of 390,000 people in England and Wales listed their religion as Jedi in the most recent census in 2001. Scotland has a reported 14,000 followers."
link to article

Discussion of Racism Conference Meltdown

Inside Story brings together different views regarding Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's speech at the Racism Conference in Geneva, and Western reaction.
link to video

Riz Khan Discusses Women's Issues in Modern, Secular Turkey

Riz Khan speaks with women regarding the role of religion in modern, secular Turkey.
link to article

Baby Preacher Delivers Moving Sermon

This baby is feeling the holy spirit.
link to video

New IMF Estimates Reach $4,000,000,000,000.

April 21, 2009: New IMF estimates that the total amount of bad debt in the global financial system has now risen to $4.1 trillion.

While the financial crisis originated largely with bad debts from the sub prime mortgage bubble in United States, the pool of bad assets has been augmented by a surge in troubled loans in Europe and Japan stemming from a string of corporate failures and depressed housing and commercial real estate markets.
link to article

Migiro Makes Plea for Aid in Economic Crisis

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has emphasized the importance of continued aid in the harsh economic climate.

“One might say that aid is a luxury in a time of economic turmoil,” she said yesterday at the Montreal Millennium Summit. “But our reaction to the crisis shows just how wrong-headed such thinking would be.”
link to article

Iranian Leader Declares Israel 'Racist State'

Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, described Israel as a 'repressive racist regime' in his speech in Geneva at the Racism Conference (Durban II). Many Western delegates walked out during the speech, and dressed themselves in clown costumes.

The US, Canada, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands were among countries which had decided to stay away from the conference altogether amid fears Ahmadinejad would use the summit to propagate anti-Semitic views.
link to article

Arbitration Begins Regarding Oil-Rich Sudanese Region

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) begins oral pleadings in dispute over oil-rich Abyei region in Central Sudan. The region straddles the border between Northern (Khartoum) Sudan and Southern (Darfur) Sudan and holds over 70% of the nation's oil reserves.

The tribunal is mandated to deliver - within 90 days - a final and binding judgment on Khartoum’s claim that the ABC exceeded its own mandate in its ruling on the boundaries of Abyei, which it delivered in July 2005.
link to article
link to PCA

Biblically Correct California Beauty Queen Contestant

Miss America hopeful, Carrie Prejean, stands by her views that permitting the gays to marry would not be 'biblically correct.'

link to video